As expected, there is a holy grail of Apple M2 silicon, the M2 Ultra. The chip is the result of fusing two M2 Max chips. The result is a faster CPU (duh) and GPU (duh, again), and also support for even more unified memory, up to 192 GB.
To put the max memory capacity in perspective, 192 GB is 50 percent more than the M1 Ultra. In addition, the memory features 800 GB/s of memory bandwidth – twice that of M2 Max. M2 Ultra features a more powerful CPU that’s 20 percent faster than M1 Ultra, a larger GPU that’s up to 30 percent faster, and a Neural Engine that’s up to 40 percent faster.
The Neural Engine has 32 cores that are capable of delivering 31.5 trillion operations per second. It further touts a media engine that is said to be twice the capabilities of M2 Max which would allow for blazing ProRes acceleration.
The media boasts a dedicated, hardware-enabled H.264, HEVC, and ProRes encode and decode, allowing M2 Ultra to playback up to 22 streams of 8K Prores 422 video. Moreover, its display engine can support up to six Pro Display XDRs, driving over 100 million pixels.
Finally, the latest Secure Enclave, along with hardware-verified secure boot and runtime anti-exploitation technologies, offers the chip best-in-class security.
Mac Studio
The first Mac hardware to use this holy grail of Apple silicon this season is the updated Mac Studio, which is also available with M2 Max. The new Mac Studio with M2 Ultra is up to 6x faster than the most powerful Intel-based 27-inch iMac, and up to 3x faster than the previous-generation Mac Studio with M1 Ultra.
Meanwhile, M2 Max-powered Mac Studio is up to 50 percent fast than the last-gen Mac Studio and 4x faster than the Intel-based 27-inch iMac. It touts a 12-core CPU, up to a 28-core GPU, and up to 96 GB of unified memory with 400 GB/s of memory bandwidth.
The compact powerhouse further boasts a wide array of connectivity, including Wi-fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, plus four Thunderports 4 ports, a 10 Gb Ethernet port, an enhanced HDMI port, two USB-A ports, two USB-C ports (front) as well as an SD card slot (front).
The new Mac Studio now has a higher-bandwidth HDMI, enabling up to 8K resolution and 240 Hz frame rates.
Mac Pro
In related news, the Mac Pro has gotten an update too, now benefitting from Apple silicon. Updates include M2 Ultra, seven PCIe expansion slots (4 of which support Gen 4, btw), and a new rack-mounted enclosure in the same cheese-grater design – in addition to the usual tower.
The new Mac Pro offers eight built-in Thunderbolt 4 ports (six on the back; two on the top), three USB-A ports, two higher-bandwidth HDMI ports, two 10 Gb Ethernet ports, a headphone jack with support for high-impedance headphones, supports up to six Pro Display XDRs, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3.
The new Mac Studio and Mac Pro are available to order today and they will be available next week, June 13, 2023. The Mac Studio starts at US$1,999 and the Mac Pro Tower and Rack start at US$6,999, and US$7,499, respectively.
Images: Apple Inc.
